PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday ordered it will not accept the handing over of detainee’s bodies to families without conducting an autopsy and submitting a report in the future.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain issued the order during the hearing of six petitions relating to enforced disappearances. It expressed displeasure over not submitting oversight board reports which were sought from the provincial government during previous hearings.
Without a cause
The bench demanded an explanation over why the body of Musafar, who was picked up along with a man identified as Arif from the Haji Camp area on July 25, was handed over to his family without submitting a report on the death.
According to their families, Musafar was a driver while Arif was a cleaner. Both men had no affiliation with any militant organisation,said their families.
On June 24, the families of missing persons were informed their loved ones were being detained at the Kohat internment centre. However, on July 20, the body of Musafar was handed over to the family without any information on the cause of death.
The court heard the case of Hussain Zaba whose two sons Shah Wali and Nasim Shah were picked up by security forces from Mardan. Later, the Kohat internment centre handed over Shah Wali’s body to his family while Nasim Shah is at an internment centre in Malakand.
A question of accountability
The court ordered Additional Advocate General Rab Nawaz Khan to summon the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary, secretary home and tribal affairs department and FATA additional chief secretary to appear in court at 1pm on Tuesday.
Consequently, Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, Deputy Secretary Usman Zaman and Additional Chief Secretary FATA Arbab Arif appeared in court.
Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel asked the home secretary for an explanation on why the court order had not been complied with and only a one-line reply had been submitted in a missing person’s case. He urged Shah to provide a detailed report containing information on the investigation process.
Shah assured the court that its orders would be complied with and pledged to summon a meeting this week to discuss the matter. Oversight boards’ reports have been completed and sent to the chief minister, he added.
According to Shah, standing operating procedures for doctors have been established to instruct them on what to do in case of a death at the internment centre. Suitable arrangements have been made to provide health facilities to the detainees, he added.
The chief justice said if the order is not complied with, the court would be left with no other option other than summoning detainees in court.
The court also ordered the in-charge of interment centre PAITHOM to appear in person on the next date of hearing with Nasim Shah who is detained at his centre.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2014.
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